


If On A Winter's Night

by meggiewrites



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Boys In Love, Christmas Eve, M/M, Meeting the Family, Moving In Together, New Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meggiewrites/pseuds/meggiewrites
Summary: Mats has to spend Christmas Eve on his own. Or does he?
Relationships: Benedikt Höwedes/Mats Hummels
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	If On A Winter's Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maxverstappens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxverstappens/gifts).



> A gift I wrote for my best friend for our one year friendship anniversary a while ago … but it works perfectly as a Christmas gift, too ♡♡♡ I hope you'll enjoy rereading this bubs, and that everyone else who reads it does too!
> 
> Unbeta'd, as usual. Title from the Sting Christmas album of the same name (which will always hold a special place in my heart) Merry Christmas!!

Snow is falling from the sky, covering the world in silence, turning the sky pink and surprisingly bright considering the sun set hours ago. Each of Mats’ steps creaks underneath the soles of his shoes and he’s got his hands shoved into the pockets of his too-thin jacket. He stops at the next corner, looking up, blinking rapidly when a few snowflakes hit and dissolve on his face. He pokes out his tongue to catch one, leaving behind nothing but a momentary fleck of coldness.

It’s Christmas Eve, and he hasn’t expected it to be this cold. Then again, he didn’t expect to be spending it alone, either.

It had been a last minute thing, that he agreed to do a charity event on Christmas morning, to go visit some kids at the hospital who won’t be able to spend the holidays at home, some not even with their family. It’s a sweet cause, and he can’t wait to see their smiling faces, but already this afternoon, being alone in his apartment as all his teammates and friends were probably already celebrating with their families. Sitting alone in front of the TV with a beer, a sad little tree in the corner of his apartment and some pictures his mum and his brother had sent him from their house back in Munich (where he could have been, too) in a desperate attempt to make him feel included, Mats felt absolutely terrible.

He’d been wallowing for over an hour already when his phone made an annoyingly loud tootling noise that alerted him that someone else who was a lot happier than him was assumedly letting him know about it. With a groan, Mats flipped it open – but instead of making him feel even more depressed, the message greeting him made his stomach take a little hop and caused a smile to tug at his lips.

_ Merry Christmas honey, I hope you’re having a great time!! <3 _

Benni.

They’ve only been boyfriends for just over half a year, and Mats still grins every time he opens a text from him, every time he sees him waiting for him at a corner or in his car, every time they meet for a game, a date or during International Break. Before Benni, he’s always assumed that all those feelings – grand, fireworks when you kiss and butterflies in your stomach and the centre of your universe and just … everything – were simply something made up by the movies and people who liked to close their eyes to how things work in the real world, but now? Now he  _ knows _ they exist, because Benni makes him feel like that every single day.

Still, even his boyfriend wishing him a merry Christmas was not enough to cheer Mats up to the degree where he didn’t feel like whining about it to the one person who might actually listen to him.

_ Not that great :( i’m all alone :(( _

What followed what Mats assumed was a confused silence, because there’s no way it would take Benni three minutes to text back a simple  _ why? _

_ Charity thing here in dortmund tomorrow morning. No way I would have made it back in time if i was at my mum’s place _

Just as Mats wanted to follow it up by saying something along the lines of ‘it’s okay, don’t worry about me’, his phone rang. Mats almost dropped it to the ground, cursing when instead, it slipped out of his hands and crashed onto the coffee table. Luckily, it didn’t break, but as usual when it took a hit, the battery fell out, successfully disconnecting the call.

Once he’d turned it back on again, Mats checked his missed calls, his stomach taking another little excited lurch when he realized who’d been trying to call him. Immediately, he called back, drumming his fingers against his thigh as it rang.

“Mats?”

“Benni, hi!” Mats was grinning – he couldn’t help it, really.

“There you are! Why didn’t you answer before?”

Mats grumbled something in his nonexistent beard, causing Benni to chuckle.

“One more time for those of us not as well-versed in bumblebee mumbling, please?”

Mats sighed. “I dropped my phone.” He shouldn’t, really shouldn’t, appreciate the way Benni was softly laughing at him at that, but somehow it still felt like someone had wrapped a warm, cozy blanket around his shoulders. There was something so achingly familiar and comforting to Benni’s deep chuckles, and Mats simply just wanted to reach to the phone and snuggle right up to him then and there.

“Oh honey … still as clumsy as ever, I see.” Mats was scowling now. Or pouting, rather, but he would always be too proud to admit that. “Now, what are you doing all on your own? And don’t tell me there’s no one around who would take you in for Christmas Eve.”

With a quick scratch of his head, Mats didn’t even try to deny it, but was still hesitant to tell Benni the real reason for a moment. Then, he sighed.

“I don’t want to intrude.”

Benni scoffed, clearly displeased. “Well, why don’t you just come here, then?”

It had taken Mats approximately five minutes to assure him that he was fine, and that he should go back to enjoying Christmas with his family, even when in the end, Benni still sounded concerned and was quite reluctant to accept Mats’ decision, but Mats was dead-set on not bursting in on a family Christmas dinner where one more person would do nothing but disrupt the meal plan.

(Swiftly, Benni debated telling Mats that he was part of his family, too, but then discarded that thought when he realized that it would probably only make this night harder for his boyfriend.)

“I’ll be fine babe, promise.” Mats had sad in the end before hanging up with a forlorn smile, rubbing his chin as he watched the girl on the TV kiss her love interest under a mistletoe as he was still like before – alone.

He’d taken three more hours to finally have enough.

He’s never spent Christmas all on his own, and it wasn’t simply depressing; it was putting him in a downright depressive mood. He might have been slightly tipsy from the two beers he had, too, and thus, when Benni sent him another message –  _ mum says hi, too _ – he rolled down from the couch, scrambling to pick up his phone, a sweater, grabbing a random jacket and a scarf but no gloves or beanie from his wardrobe before slipping into his shoes.

He took one last look at his apartment – empty and cold, despite the heat being turned all the way up – and the sad little tree flashing in the corner before closing the door behind him, and making the way down to his car.

Which now, one thirty minute drive later, leaves him here. In a small town just outside of the Ruhr where he’s never actually been before, searching for an address that he just hopes is the right one, and a jacket that’s not keeping him warm enough.

Like the idiot he is, he’s parked his car a few streets too far away and already almost slipped two times on icy spots on the sidewalk. His fingers feel stiff and sort of numb when he finally comes to a halt in front of number 19. It’s a medium-sized house that isn’t really anything special, but it looks homey and through the windows Mats can see warm lights with occasionally shadows passing through in front of them. It’s eight in the evening, and he really hopes that the family living here has finished their meal already, because if not it only would make this more awkward.

He hesitates before walking through the garden gate. It squeaks when he opens it, and the paved pathway leading up to the entrance is another slippery slope of potential broken bones that might put him out for the remainder of the season.

Luckily, he makes it without an injury and takes another deep breath as he stands in front of the front door.

The nameplate is frosted over, and Mats can make out the H and the ö that follows it just so, tracing it with his index finger and regretting it immediately when that sends another wave of cold through him. He’s freezing, and by now he would do everything just to be inside and for a hot cup of tea or maybe something stronger.

Determined, he rings the doorbell.

It takes a whole while until someone opens. A girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen and a whole head shorter than Mats, musters him from head to toe, eyes narrowed until they suddenly widen and she gapes at him.

“You’re–”

“Johanna, right?” Mats asks, rubbing his head, shuffling around. “Your brother, he, um …”

“Mats?”

Oh thank god, Mats thinks, sending the girl – Benni’s younger sister – an apologetic smile as he takes a few steps past her, dramatically, maybe overly so, flinging himself into his boyfriend’s arms. He knocks the breath out of Benni as he does so, but the blond still catches him with a slight ‘uff’, wrapping his arms securely around Mats’ waist, steadying them both with a hand braced against the wall.

“You’re as cold as ice.”

Mats huffs. “Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Couldn’t you have told me that that parking spot was this far away from your house?”

Benni doesn’t grace that with an answer, of course not, and instead he just pulls away gently, taking Mats’ hands in his, rubbing them until they feel slightly warmer and Mats can feel his cheeks growing hot.

“Um, do you guys mind?” Johanna looks a little bit offended that she’s been so easily ignored, and Benni pulls a face as he turns around to her before giving her a crooked smile. He leans over to ruffle her hair which has her crying out indignantly.

“Sorry, midget. I had no idea he was actually coming, you know.”

Johanna slaps his hand away with a giggle before looking at Mats again, holding out her hand. “Well then. I’m Johanna. You can call me Jojo, though.”

Mats takes it, surprised by how strong her grip is. “Mats. You can call me Mats. I’m–”

“– my big brother’s boyfriend, I know. He hardly ever stops talking about you, you know? Ever since you called this afternoon it’s been like ‘Mats this, Mats that, oh I hope Mats isn’t lonely!’”

She’s grinning a truly shit-eating grin by now, and out of the corner of his eyes, Mats can tell that some colour has risen to Benni’s freckled cheeks as the shadows of the candles in the window sill play on the sharp lines of his jaw and the definition of his cheekbones. It’s really endearing, is what it is, and Mats never wants to stop holding his hand.

He has to, eventually, though, when the rest of Benni’s family decides to join them in the narrow hallway. Benni’s big brother, Andreas, looks mildly surprised at the new person in the house, but his mum only lets out a little happy squeal as she rushes over to hug him, kissing his cheek in a way that makes Mats miss his own mum terribly, and his boyfriend’s father eyes him curiously before shaking his hand and introducing himself, too.

Mats hasn’t met any of them apart for Benni’s mum, actually, didn’t have the chance to yet, what with Andreas working in Hamburg, Johanna being in school and Benni’s father busy with his work, and it feels odd, stumbling into their family festivities just like that, but over the course of the next few hours, the Höwedes do everything to make him feel welcome. 

Benni’s mum offers him a glass of mulled wine she made herself to warm him up, and after Benni lends him a warm, woolen knit sweater that is big and comfy and smells like him, too, he tugs Mats over to one of the couches in the living room, facing a tree that’s so much bigger and more beautiful than the tiny excuse for one in Mats’ apartment, and Mats doesn’t feel uncomfortable pulling up to Benni’s side, holding his hand between them as he sips his hot drink and slowly starts to get involved in the conversation as Benni and his family unwrap their last presents, feeling more at home with the second.

It’s only when the last package is opened that Benni turns to him, guiltily, biting his lip. 

“I don’t have your gift. It’s still at my place in Gelsenkirchen.”

Mats looks at him warmly, thumbing over the back of his hand. “That’s okay. I don’t really have something here for you, either.” He leaves it unmentioned that the gift he  _ does _ have is not one he can really wrap.

After another hour, Benni’s mum shoos them all to bed. Andreas obeys without grumbling, but Johanna whines as she climbs the stairs, making Mats feel oddly nostalgic over his teenage years, and after Benni’s parents have bid them goodnight too, blowing out the candles and leaving them only with the shimmering lights of the Christmas tree, Benni turns to Mats.

“I’m glad you came after all.”

Mats lets his head drop onto his shoulder, smiling when the movement feels so natural, so normal. “Me too.” He stares at the lights, and slowly, his eyes fall close. Now that he’s comfortable and with the person he loves, he knows sleep will call for him soon. After all, he can still feel the cold sit in his bones, and the alcohol he consumed over the night making him even more tired, too.

It’s only Benni nudging his shoulder that keeps him from falling asleep fully. His smile is as soft as his voice. soft, gentle, and once again, Mats can hardly believe that this boy is actually his. That they belong together now.

“Hey, honey … c’mon, get up. I can’t carry you upstairs, you know?”

His words are teasing but his tone is the fondest Mats has ever heard him sound, and so he smiles stupidly, dazed in love as Benni offers him a hand to help him stand up, tugging him towards the stairs. It’s dark there, and Mats almost stumbles into him when Benni stops halfway, one step above him, turning around.

His eyes shine brightly in the darkness, like two burning stars in the sky, and he’s the most amazing thing Mats has ever seen.

Benni searches for Mats’ other hand in the dark, and his fingers are warm when he slots them together, pulling Mats closer and into a kiss, sweet and tender, close-mouthed but warm like wax dripping from a candle. He tastes like mulled wine, like warmth, like Christmas … simply like home.

They stay locked in embrace once their lips part, bodies pressing one against the one, two halves of one soul. It’s only when they finally pull away, and Mats gets to look at Benni again, that he remembers.

“Benni?”

His boyfriend reaches out, pushing an unruly curl out of Mats’ forehead with fingers light as feathers, his fingertips ghosting over Mats’ cheeks before his hand comes to rest on his shoulder. “Hmm?”

“My present, I … it’s a bit silly, really, but …” You’re my home, Mats thinks, and I always want you to be that.

He’s not usually this shy, this hesitant with his words, but this is big, and he doesn’t want to mess up, not now. 

Not with Benni.

“Remember how you always said that you didn’t like your current place, and you know mine’s not the best either? … you know, three weeks ago, I found an ad for an apartment in Düsseldorf, with a big balcony and a nice kitchen, and I thought why not make an inquiry, I …”

Benni stares at him with wide-eyed wonder, his hands still on Mats’ shoulders, the snow still falling outside, covering everything under a white, soft blanket. Mats gets lost in his eyes again, and only continues when Benni lifts his arm, putting Mats’ hand, covered with his own, on Mats’ cheek.

Mats takes a deep breath. “If you want to, it’s ours.”

“You mean …?”

Mats nods. “Move in with me, Benni. Please?”

And it’s Benni’s arms closing in around him again, pulling him so close that no sheet of paper could fit in between them, that knows he has an answer. And that’s everything Mats could have dreamt this Christmas Eve to be.

**Author's Note:**

> I write FICTION about real people. None of this is intended to harm them or their reputation in any way. Please leave kudos and maybe a comment if you liked it! | [tumblr](http://manuelmueller.tumblr.com/)


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